"Greek Girls on the Shore," Joaquin Sorolla, 1895.

This was a pivotal work in the career of Sorolla (1863-1923), one of the most popular Spanish painters of his time. This came just as he was achieving fame. A large canvas, "The Return from Fishing," had just won top honors at the Paris Salon and had been purchased by the French government; it still hangs in the Musee D'Orsay.

This is one of a series of murals he painted at a time when Neo-Hellenism was in vogue. The idealized, sentimental views of beautifully clad women in classical Greek costume, picking perfect, fully-in-bloom flowers, was a huge draw and the first of one of many private commissions.

This was also one of the murals that led to the opportunity to paint his masterpiece, a series of murals called "A Vision of Spain," visible today at the Hispanic Society of America in New York.

From a private collection.

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